IMO the front 7 will be solid (Rey improves). But on the back end we could experience some serious growing pains. Who lines up opposite Leon? Dre (no sign of Swag, yet) or Ghee?
And lets just assume Williams (or Iloka, or whoever that is not a proven safety) is starting opposite Reggie.
With a solid gameplan, you could see half of the back end of this D being defended by guys that have no significant snaps in the NFL.

Anyone else concerned? I understand the front 7 will not (hopefully) be giving opposing QBs
much time.
But I am a little concerned.

Is Newman not on the team anymore? Everyone acts like the guy is going to be a non factor, but he actually played really well last year. There may be drop off this year, but even still he would be a serviceable starter if Dre or Ghee aren't ready.

IMO the front 7 will be solid (Rey improves). But on the back end we could experience some serious growing pains. Who lines up opposite Leon? Dre (no sign of Swag, yet) or Ghee?
And lets just assume Williams (or Iloka, or whoever that is not a proven safety) is starting opposite Reggie.
With a solid gameplan, you could see half of the back end of this D being defended by guys that have no significant snaps in the NFL.

Anyone else concerned? I understand the front 7 will not (hopefully) be giving opposing QBs
much time.
But I am a little concerned.

Where's Rhoades?!!

Not hugely concerned but yeah there's certainly some questions in our secondary. We did alright last year though and I personally dont see our secondary as significantly worse on paper, so no reason we cant be ok back there. I'd rather we were better there though, and like you allude to, ive got huge question marks on Kirkpatrick. Thought it was a poor pick from the start, but we'll see what he can do given some game time.

IMO the front 7 will be solid (Rey improves). But on the back end we could experience some serious growing pains. Who lines up opposite Leon? Dre (no sign of Swag, yet) or Ghee?
And lets just assume Williams (or Iloka, or whoever that is not a proven safety) is starting opposite Reggie.
With a solid gameplan, you could see half of the back end of this D being defended by guys that have no significant snaps in the NFL.

Anyone else concerned? I understand the front 7 will not (hopefully) be giving opposing QBs
much time.
But I am a little concerned.

Where's Rhoades?!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Au165

Is Newman not on the team anymore? Everyone acts like the guy is going to be a non factor, but he actually played really well last year. There may be drop off this year, but even still he would be a serviceable starter if Dre or Ghee aren't ready.

In all honesty, yes, I wasn't even thinking about Newman. After reading my post I realized it wasn't as bad as I was making it out. But regardless, the secondary will determine the success of this D this year. No?

IMO the front 7 will be solid (Rey improves). But on the back end we could experience some serious growing pains. Who lines up opposite Leon? Dre (no sign of Swag, yet) or Ghee?
And lets just assume Williams (or Iloka, or whoever that is not a proven safety) is starting opposite Reggie.
With a solid gameplan, you could see half of the back end of this D being defended by guys that have no significant snaps in the NFL.

Anyone else concerned? I understand the front 7 will not (hopefully) be giving opposing QBs
much time.
But I am a little concerned.

Where's Rhoades?!!

Newman should still be the starting CB opposite of Hall unless an injury happens or one of the other CBs just completely outperforms him by the end of TC.

I suspect that teams will try to test our secondary early on, especially if we don't bring in a veteran SS. If I was the other team and I saw one of Mays, Iloka, or Williams back there, I'd try to challenge them to make a play. It will be up to our secondary to step up to that challenge and make the other team regret it.

I believe Williams will have some growing pains, but will end up being a very good player. He has the intelligence, attitude, leadership, and athleticism to become a great SS.

IMO the front 7 will be solid (Rey improves). But on the back end we could experience some serious growing pains. Who lines up opposite Leon? Dre (no sign of Swag, yet) or Ghee?
And lets just assume Williams (or Iloka, or whoever that is not a proven safety) is starting opposite Reggie.
With a solid gameplan, you could see half of the back end of this D being defended by guys that have no significant snaps in the NFL.

Anyone else concerned? I understand the front 7 will not (hopefully) be giving opposing QBs
much time.
But I am a little concerned.

Where's Rhoades?!!

Dre will be ready for TC...

Starting CBs either Leon and Newman or Leon and Dre depending on Dres rehab and progress this offseason.

3 man group Leon Newman/Dre Jones

I see Newman maybe starting the first few games with Dre's snaps increasing in each game till he takes over the starter spot. Also very excited to see if Ghee makes the Cut

We have a Solid set of DBs with some Depth to groom for when those guys depart.

A Jones is here for another 3 years? and so is Leon.

Newmans contract screams backup and theres where i expect him come mid season.. (not a bad guy to have sitting around incase of injury he more than held down his assignments last year)

Newman should still be the starting CB opposite of Hall unless an injury happens or one of the other CBs just completely outperforms him by the end of TC.

I suspect that teams will try to test our secondary early on, especially if we don't bring in a veteran SS. If I was the other team and I saw one of Mays, Iloka, or Williams back there, I'd try to challenge them to make a play. It will be up to our secondary to step up to that challenge and make the other team regret it.

I believe Williams will have some growing pains, but will end up being a very good player. He has the intelligence, attitude, leadership, and athleticism to become a great SS.

Testing a safety in our defense is not as easy as you'd think. Most of the times we only rush 4 which means our safeties are normally providing over the top coverage. With our pass rush it is hard for teams to test us deep because they don't have time for the play to develop. If there is a team for a young safety to learn on it is ours because he shouldn't get tested deep too often.

Is Newman not on the team anymore? Everyone acts like the guy is going to be a non factor, but he actually played really well last year. There may be drop off this year, but even still he would be a serviceable starter if Dre or Ghee aren't ready.

This...

Quote:

Originally Posted by OchoCincos

Newman should still be the starting CB opposite of Hall unless an injury happens or one of the other CBs just completely outperforms him by the end of TC.

I suspect that teams will try to test our secondary early on, especially if we don't bring in a veteran SS. If I was the other team and I saw one of Mays, Iloka, or Williams back there, I'd try to challenge them to make a play. It will be up to our secondary to step up to that challenge and make the other team regret it.

I believe Williams will have some growing pains, but will end up being a very good player. He has the intelligence, attitude, leadership, and athleticism to become a great SS.

We have talent and depth in our secondary.
There was a major weakness last year at one of the safety spots, but Mays having experience, and the drafting of a talented and smart Williams means it is covered.

Hall, Newman, Kirkpatrick, Ghee, and Jones give us great talent and depth at CB.

Our defense has one glaring weakness, and it is MLB.

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IMO the front 7 will be solid (Rey improves). But on the back end we could experience some serious growing pains. Who lines up opposite Leon? Dre (no sign of Swag, yet) or Ghee?
And lets just assume Williams (or Iloka, or whoever that is not a proven safety) is starting opposite Reggie.
With a solid gameplan, you could see half of the back end of this D being defended by guys that have no significant snaps in the NFL.

Anyone else concerned? I understand the front 7 will not (hopefully) be giving opposing QBs
much time.
But I am a little concerned.

Where's Rhoades?!!

Seems as if many were concerned about the secondary last season as well. As we saw it worked out just fine. You mention who lines up across from Hall yet you do not mention the guy that lined up across from him last season? Why is,that?

With what the pass rush will bring this year I'm not at all near worried about our secondary. We will mostly be rushing 5 (front 4 and Harrison) so the safeties will be mostly be playing in cover 2.

Leon Hall was probably playing at 80% most of last year so he'll be at full strength this year. We're also adding a 1st round pick in Dre Kirkpatrick. We can only go by what coaches say, but they always talk up Brandon Ghee every TC, so if he's healthy I can only assume that he will impact the Bengals secondary. The only question mark is the safety across from Nelson, but with only needing 4 guys to rush the passer he won't be singled out very much in coverage.

Harrison's role will be simple. Get after the quarterback. If hes not doing that hes simply not in the game. He might be asked to cover a guy maybe 5 times a game. I look for the snaps to be 40% Harrison - 60% Lamur at the Sam and I also look for Harrison to see 10% of the sanps at DE with Dunlap sliding inside on 3rd and long situations. That's 50% of the sanps for Harrison which should keep him good and fresh. The good thing about this defense is everyone can rotate in and we hardly lose anything on the talent end. We should be well fresh in the 4th qtr when we need that extra berth. Even Atkins can be spelled from time to time with Still coming in. Still wasn't drafted in the 2nd round only to ride the pine for 2 straight years. I look for him to steal some playing time from Peko and also could see time at DE on 3rd and short situations. This is by far the best defense the Bengals have ever put on the field and I cant wait to see them out there. I cant take much more of this talking about it I need to watch some football. WHO DEY!!!!

Until I see what Harrison can do as a 4-3 SAM, I'm not ready to cross that off the list. Not sure he will be an upgrade over Manny.

I predict he is going to have a better year here than his last few with Pittsburgh (which will have nothing to do with sacks), because as a SAM linebacker he will be mixing it up with the strong side TE at the line and will not have to go up against left tackles. I can see Zimmer sliding him around the Defensive Line to help keep guys fresh though, but you won't see him rushing the passer much as a SAM unless there is play action or something along those lines.

__________________
Why do Steelers fans keep their season tickets on their dashboards? So they can park in handicap spaces.

Harrison's role will be simple. Get after the quarterback. If hes not doing that hes simply not in the game. He might be asked to cover a guy maybe 5 times a game. I look for the snaps to be 40% Harrison - 60% Lamur at the Sam and I also look for Harrison to see 10% of the sanps at DE with Dunlap sliding inside on 3rd and long situations. That's 50% of the sanps for Harrison which should keep him good and fresh. The good thing about this defense is everyone can rotate in and we hardly lose anything on the talent end. We should be well fresh in the 4th qtr when we need that extra berth. Even Atkins can be spelled from time to time with Still coming in. Still wasn't drafted in the 2nd round only to ride the pine for 2 straight years. I look for him to steal some playing time from Peko and also could see time at DE on 3rd and short situations. This is by far the best defense the Bengals have ever put on the field and I cant wait to see them out there. I cant take much more of this talking about it I need to watch some football. WHO DEY!!!!

I am actually wondering how Harrison is going to get used. I am not going to be shocked if he sees fewer snaps than people are predicting.

I would not be shocked either. I see Lamur coming in in obvious coverage situations much like the end of last season. I as well believe Lamur is going to make his presence felt during camp and the preseason.

It is also going to be interesting to see what Joiner brings to the table.

The only real question mark is the safety position opposite of Reggie. Otherwise the secondary is pretty much the same as last year and I thought they did OK. It's not a strength of this team but with such a superb D-line they can afford to be just an average unit. My main concern for the D is still Rey Maualuga. I still can't fathom why they signed him again. I recorded the playoff game but refused to watch it again for 3 reasons:

1.) We lost
2.) Dalton missing Green on the deep route still makes me cringe
3.) Aside from the loss, it's the play of Rey that keeps me from watching the game again. Dude got beaten like a drum and it literally makes me sick to my stomach knowing he is taking the field as our starting MIKE again.

Until I see what Harrison can do as a 4-3 SAM, I'm not ready to cross that off the list. Not sure he will be an upgrade over Manny.

Lol Manny was invisible last year. What did he play 30% of the snaps. I cant remember 1 play he made all season. If Harrison gets 5-6 sacks this year out of that position it would be a huge upgrade. Thats not even a good year and I dont think Harrison will have any problems doing that. Not to mention his run defense will help make offenses more 1 dimensional. You could never say that about Manny at any point of his career.

The only real question mark is the safety position opposite of Reggie. Otherwise the secondary is pretty much the same as last year and I thought they did OK. It's not a strength of this team but with such a superb D-line they can afford to be just an average unit. My main concern for the D is still Rey Maualuga. I still can't fathom why they signed him again. I recorded the playoff game but refused to watch it again for 3 reasons:

1.) We lost
2.) Dalton missing Green on the deep route still makes me cringe
3.) Aside from the loss, it's the play of Rey that keeps me from watching the game again. Dude got beaten like a drum and it literally makes me sick to my stomach knowing he is taking the field as our starting MIKE again.

Makes me even more sick that the Bengals thought enough of Maualuga to give him a multi year contract and 7 million dollars to boot. Now we have to watch this guy get beat like a drum for 2 more years.

Lol Manny was invisible last year. What did he play 30% of the snaps. I cant remember 1 play he made all season. If Harrison gets 5-6 sacks this year out of that position it would be a huge upgrade. Thats not even a good year and I dont think Harrison will have any problems doing that. Not to mention his run defense will help make offenses more 1 dimensional. You could never say that about Manny at any point of his career.

Who knows? Manny is 6 years younger and was signed faster to a bigger contract this off season. "Invisible" is not always a bad thing in a dominate defense.